In the face of the Russian threat, NATO is discussing the deployment of non-strategic nuclear weapons in Poland, Finland and Lithuania. This weaponry is designed to attack troops, airfields, ports, command posts and other objects of military infrastructure, and its destruction is carried out by fighter jets or cruise missiles. They are inferior in power to strategic nuclear weapons.
Before that, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte considered it possible to deploy an additional American nuclear arsenal in Europe. "We must ensure that no one can launch a nuclear attack on us without being retaliated against," the agency quoted Rutte as saying.
After the end of the Cold War and the reduction of nuclear arsenals, about 100 units of American-made B61-12 nuclear bombs have been preserved on the European continent. They are located at six air bases in five NATO member states - Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey - as part of the joint nuclear sharing program. Earlier, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced Vilnius' willingness to join the NATO nuclear deterrence system amid Russia's war against Ukraine, noting that Lithuania currently has no immediate plans to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory in peacetime.
In late June, Finland adopted amendments to its nuclear energy law, lifting the ban on importing and deploying nuclear weapons on its territory. These changes came into effect on July 1.
